Is Your Spiritual Life in a Rut?

Because of a recent, week-end snow, many churches in the area canceled their Sunday activities. In our church, the decision was made Saturday to have one worship service at 1:00 pm Sunday, for those who could safely come to church.

That Sunday morning, the sun was shining and the snow glistened from the morning sun. It was a beautiful day. But the day was different from anything I had experienced for years. On a normal Sunday, my wife and I would attend the 10:50 am service. Since it would be lunch time when we got out of church, my wife and I would usually eat out after church.

The first thing we had to decide was what to do about lunch? Do we eat at home or go out and hope we are done eating in time for church? Most of the churches had cancelled services, so we really did not have to ‘beat the Baptists’ to the restaurant.

After we ate, we arrived at church a few minutes before the service was to start. We greeted our friends with “Good Morning” before realizing it was afternoon. We had the usual “congregation upset” where you greet the people around you. Again everyone was saying “good morning”.

We normally have two services on Sunday morning. We also have a lot of congregation participation in the service, so in some cases we had two different people to do the same thing, or we did not have anyone to do a given part of the service. But it was amazing. Everyone seemed to just step in and the service went smoothly.

The sequence of the service was the same as usual. However, I found myself a bit confused because it was afternoon and not morning. I had to think about what each part of the service meant to my worship that day. I realized that so many things we do have become so routine, that we miss the blessing God has for us.

As a society, we are moving at such a fast pace that our lives become routine. We do many things while we are thinking about the next thing we are going to do or say.

I ask you this question: “Is your spiritual life in a rut?” Are you going through the worship service thinking about what is next? Or, are you basking in an intimate relationship with God?

Hopefully your spiritual life is not bound up in just a church service. It should be obvious every minute of the day. Are we so wound up in following ‘our routine’ that we are unaware of God’s presence every moment of the day? Are we also unaware of the people around us that need a savior?

God made mankind so He would have someone with which to have a loving relationship. God loved us so much that he gave his only son so we could have a restored relationship with him. But we are so concerned about ourselves and what we are doing that we forget God.

The Apostle Peter says it best:

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority,14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:11-17(NIV)

Enjoy the life that God gave you and do not let your routine activity destroy the relationship God wants with you.

NOTE: All scripture used in this blog was downloaded from www.biblegateway.com